Microsoft, Unilever, others win Great Place To Work award

Microsoft Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria and six other companies have been declared the best companies to work in Nigeria at the 2015 Great Place to Work Nigeria (GPTWN) Awards.Others that clinched the coveted awards on account of their strong ethical standards and work-friendly environment include Mansard Insurance Plc, Coca-Cola Nigeria, NSIA Insurance, Akintola Williams Deloitte, DHL Nigeria, and Konga.

While Microsoft beat FITC and DHL Nigeria to clinch the award for the category of Delivering Excellence in Wellness, Sahara Group, a major player in the oil & gas sector, trounced Fidelity Bank and Diageo Nigeria to clinch the award in the category of Delivering Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). FITC, which was first runner up to Microsoft however, won the Delivering Excellence in Leadership category. Lagos Business School and FirstBank of Nigeria was first and second runner up, respectively.

Also, Akintola Williams Deloitte emerged winner in the Delivering Excellence in Learning & Development category. The firm beat DHL Nigeria and Accenture Nigeria who were first and second runner up, respectively. A pool of over 75 organisations was assessed from which three were nominated in each category and a winner selected.

Speaking during the third edition of the award ceremony and dinner tagged, ‘Good to Great,’held on Friday, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, Country Manager, GPTWN, Mr. Michael Thomas, said: “The eight companies that made the 2015 Best Companies To Work for in Nigeria list set a high standard for us all. Their outstanding achievement builds a better society by creating great workplaces.”

GPTWN is an affiliate of Great Place to Work, San Francisco, US, a global research, consulting and training institute that specialises in analysing, understanding, selecting and publishing best workplace lists in the country.

The Great Place to Work Awards are a distinctive way Great Place to Work Institute recognizes the accomplishments of organisations across the world who have implemented creative and effective approaches to developing trust, pride, and camaraderie within their unique workplaces.The organisers define great workplaces as companies where employees trust their colleagues, take pride in their work and enjoy the relationship with the people they work with.

Thomas, who noted that it’s interesting to see lots of companies build great workplace culture however, said it takes a certain level of courage to blaze the trail and build a great workplace culture. He disclosed that unlike past editions, more indigenous companies are among the awardees.

Also speaking, Chairman of GPTWN, Mr. Ghandi Olaoye, noted that there is a growing desire among companies in Nigeria to build a great place to work. While describing the awardees as exceptional, he said they represent exemplary corporate citizens. He urged them to continue to show the way for others to follow.

Explaining the key criteria in the process of determining the winning companies, Mr. Olaoye said the selections were made by critically looking at employee perceptions as indicated in GPTWN Trust Index Assessment. “The Trust Index Survey measures employee perception of his company. It looks at how employees see their organisations and this trust index has a whole lot of questions drawn with an international standard. So we don’t do the rating, the employees do the rating and we send it to the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco,” he said.